On Sunday the 13th of June 2010, Canadian Hazaras gathered in Toronto to protest against the invasion of Hazara towns and villages in Central Afghanistan and the killings of many innocent Hazaras in those communities by the Kochies. They also condemned the negligence of the Afghan government to take action against this violent attack which had taken many lives including women and children. They hope that the UN will not stay silent while many innocent families are being massacred by the Kochies.

There will be a more detailed report for this protest posted here once more information is available.

Dear readers, this year, like previous years, the Hazaras of Sydney gathered to commemorate Baba Mazari’s martyrdom (on the 13th of March). I will soon write a report of this event with pictures and post it on this blog. The following is a speech written by me which was presented in this commemoration.

Besmellahe Rahmaane Rahim!

Respected guests, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank you all for your presence in tonight’s event. Tonight we have gathered to commemorate a very unique and special day in our history. We have not gathered here to become sad and take nothing home with us but grief. The aim for this commemoration is far from spreading sadness or becoming sad. Its aim is rather to understand the reasons, the causes and the meaning of what happened in that day. So let’s use this as an opportunity for a wake up call and as a way to raise awareness about a people who belong to a history that experienced the worst atrocities that we can possibly think of.

Each year, throughout the world, the Hazara people come together on this day to remember a person by the name of Abdul Ali Mazari, who rose from this harsh and forgotten history. I believe that it would be impossible to understand or define his personality and vision without having a thorough knowledge about his people’s past. Abdul Ali Mazari rose from a history which is full of devastations, full of mothers crying for their dead and injured children, and those hungry orphans on the streets of Hazaristan.

When he was in Bamiyan, he was the leader of a political party, but after the fall of the communist regime when he moved to Kabul, he became the leader of a people. He became the leader of the Hazaras, that portion of the Afghan society that had been forcefully kept deprived of their basic rights as citizens of Afghanistan. His followers were the remnants of those who were tortured, oppressed and massacred throughout the last three hundred years in Afghanistan. His followers were the people whose 62% of their population was massacred in the 1880’s and 1890’s by Abdur Rahman.

His voice was louder than anyone in saying that ‘being a Hazara is not a crime’, and he fought for his people’s rights. He created an atmosphere where all Hazaras started forming one unity. Those Hazaras of Northern Afghanistan, who had to cover their Hazara identity in order to survive, were given the opportunity to remove the fake identity that centuries of oppression had forced them to use and once again return to their true identity. He was given the title of “Baba”, which means “father” or a “leader”.

Through Baba’s successful leadership and the strong bond that was created between him and his people, he was able to unite all Hazaras regardless of what they believed in. His followers are not just the Shia Hazaras, but there are also Sunni, Ismaili and even Communist Hazaras who proudly call themselves children and followers of Baba Mazari.

Baba Mazari believed that the first step to peace and prosperity is education. He felt the need for education as the key to solve many fundamental problems in Afghanistan. An educated society can come up with positive changes to eliminate their problems. He introduced new ideas to achieve a long lasting peace for Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, due to the allocated time limit, I am not able to talk about the political and social reforms that he introduced. However, to get a rough idea about Baba Mazari’s broad vision and his thoughts it would be helpful to go through the sentences in his speeches which were formed by words such as ‘justice’ ‘equality’, ‘brotherhood’ and ‘peace’.

Baba Mazari dreamed about a government where there is equal power sharing and equal rights among all the ethnic groups that reside in Afghanistan. But quite sadly, he was left alone as there were not many who appreciated what he was after. He constantly criticised and opposed those who encouraged war and those who ignored religious and cultural tolerance and acceptance. He believed that the initial step in achieving a long lasting peace in Afghanistan is for all the ethnicities that form the Afghan society to accept and tolerate each other.

Ladies and gentlemen, fifteen years ago, Baba Mazari became the first leader in Afghanistan to be assassinated by the barbaric regime of the Taliban. It was a great loss that can never be replaced. However, that was just the commencement of the movement and the vision that Baba started. We all know that he could ignore some of the principles that his thoughts and actions were based on in order to convince himself to run and survive. But to him such a life would have been meaningless. He was bound to his principles until his last breath.

Tonight we are commemorating the day when he sacrificed his life by fighting till the last drop of his blood to protect us and to defend our rights. Baba let the unheard cries of the people of Hazarstan reach those who were willing to listen. He felt all the oppressions and hardships that our people had gone through in the past few hundred years.

Baba Mazari has left us a great responsibility, a responsibility that requires hard work, patience and courage to continue his path and to keep his mission alive. As the new generation we will continue to participate and playing our individual roles in taking positive steps towards a bright future while remembering who we are and the history that we belong to.

Years of war and conflicts in our country has scattered us all around the globe. Looking back in the past, despite all these difficulties and obstacles, I can proudly point out the fact that our people have always been productive, creative and respectful members of any society that they have become part of.

There are many of us, who are living outside Afghanistan, and some of us are lucky to be in countries such as Australia, where there is a fair go for everyone and everyone is treated with equality. However, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that the majority of our people are still living in Afghanistan. They are still suffering and they are in need for our support. It is our responsibility to let their voices be heard through us.

Acting according to Baba Mazari’s teachings will allow us to unite our individual efforts and achieve something bigger, something more meaningful and valuable, or in other words, valuing the struggles and the efforts that our ancestors put into creating a better future for us.

Baba Mazari’s name has become a symbol of unity and brotherhood amongst us. When we hear his name, it reminds us of the three hundred years of struggles by our ancestors for a better future for the coming generations. A future where being a Hazara is not seen as a crime, a future where a Hazara person can plan his or her future without fear and without discrimination.

Today, Baba Mazari has become part of who we are, he has become part of our identity. His appearance in our history is certainly a valuable gift for us. He brought us ‘hope’ and the only source that fuels our enthusiasm and our passion to continue his path is for this ‘hope’.

Kushan Empire is believed to be one of the first recorded empires in the history of Afghanistan. It was a religious and multi-ethnic empire that had its capital located at Bamiyan city. Hazara ancestors had settled in Bamiyan and other area around it before the first century. The Kushan Empire was run by the people of Bamiyan who were Buddhist at that time. They were also joined by the people of Takharistan. Kushan Empire started in the 1st century AD and ended 300 years later.

The Huns

‘Turan’ is an ancient Dari word which means Central and part of North Asia. To be more specific it refers to the regions that are today known as Mongolia and some countries surrounding it. Around 400 BC, present day Mongolia was home to many nomadic tribes. It was around 250 BC when a young and capable leader named Touman Khan appeared among the tribal Khans in the steppes of Mongolia. In 234 BC his son Modu/Mette was born who later formed the Great Hun Empire in 209 BC.

There are some sources that introduce Huns as an Iranic people or just as an unidentified group of people. However, it is quite clear who Huns were and what their origin was. ‘Hun’ is an ancient Mongol/Turkic word which means ‘people’. Huns were the ancestors of all Mongol and Turk tribes.

All the nomadic tribes who lived in the great vast steppes of Mongolia were united by Modu Khan and formed one united Hun army. Chinese sources refer to Huns as ‘Xiongnu’. Their sources contain information regarding Hunnic lifestyle, tradition and military conquests. All the sources refer to them as brave and skilful hunters and superb horsemen who had a nomadic lifestyle.

Hun Empire kept growing year by year. Their confidence and unity made them believe that there was no power that could resist or stand against their army. Slowly they started expanding to the West in Eurasian regions as well as to other parts of Asia.

In Europe, Huns were led by Atila Khan, where he created the European Hun empire. Later, his successors established Hungary and Bulgaria.

Sami are the indigenous people of Sweden. They have a lot in common with the Huns. Their language and culture suggest that they are also Mongoloid and related to Huns.

Red Huns and Ak Huns

Moving back to the Hun conquest, while most of the Huns continued their expansion in the West, some rode South towards present day Afghanistan. Red Huns also known as Chionites, settled in Central Afghanistan and were in power for one hundred years (from 320 AD – 420 AD) when the Ak Huns (Hephthalites) also came and replaced the Red Huns.

Ak Huns ruled from 420 AD till 600 AD. Ak in Turkic means white, therefore, Ak Hun means White Huns or Hephthalites. After their settlement in those regions, they had a long history of conflicts with the Sasanids. Sasanids were an Indo-European people located in the present day Iran.

Buddhas of Bamiyan were built by the Huns of Central Afghanistan. But it is still uncertain as to which particular Hunnic group built them. According to Ann Heirman and Stephan Peter (1), the Giant Buddhas of Bamiyan were built by the Ak Huns. However, another source mentions that these Buddhas were erected by the Red Huns, before the arrival of the Ak Huns (2).

Unfortunately there are not enough sources to tell us the exact names of all the tribes that were part of these Huns. However, the link between the present day Hazaras and the Huns are quite clear. Uar and Hun were the two biggest tribes, but there were many more.

Atta, Yezderi, Baghcheri and Gari are some of the ancient Hazara tribes who live mainly in Ja Ghury, Afghanistan. Without a doubt, these names resemble ancient Hunnic names. There are many similarities and proofs that suggest these tribes are descendants of Ak Huns.

Naiman Hazaras constitute a large portion of Hazara population in Afghanistan. Like many other Hazaras, they are Sunni, Shia and they also have considerable number of Ismailies among them. They live mainly in Shekhali region of Hazaristan, as well as Baghlan province in Northern Afghanistan. Other independent Naimans live outside Afghanistan mainly in Central Asian countries, such as Kazakhstan (1), Uzbekistan and Mongolia (2).

Shekhali is not a tribe, it’s an area. Hazaras living in Shekhali are mainly Naimans. However, they have formed smaller clans to organise themselves such as Naimo, Karamali etc. In Hazaragi, we tend to pronounce a word which ends with an “aan” as just “o”, e.g. Bamiyan = Bamiyo or Jaan = Jo etc. Therefore, “Naimo” stands for the name Naiman.

Hazara history follows a number of chronological stages. However, the most important events to the history of the Hazara people occurred after the establishment of the ancient Bamiyan civilisation, which dates back many centuries before the birth of Christ. Hazara ancestors had already created a rich culture and civilisation before they built the giant statues of the Buddha. So the construction of the statues in the 350 AD does not indicate the start of their civilisation.

There is still uncertainties to whether the statues were built by the Kushan Empire or the Hunnic empires. Kushan Empire started in the first century and ended in 300AD, which was not when the statues were constructed. Hunnic tribes rose to power after the Kushans, so there is a convincing proof that the statues were built by the Huns.

To simplify the Hazara history it is a good idea to divide the events into two stages, which will help us to clarify some of the incorrect assumptions that are made by some historians.

Before 12th century – The Kushans and the Hunnic Hazara ancestors who build the Gaint Buddhas in Bamiyan, Mahmood of Ghazni (Ghaznavid Empire) and Mohammad Turk of Ghuri etc…

During and after the 12th centuty – The Great Mongol Empire, Ilkhaanid Empire…

Hazara is not a tribe. Hazara is a confederation of many Mongolic and Turkic tribes. It was formed after the collapse of the Ilkhaanid Empire, when the defeated soldiers returned back home (Hazaristan) from other countries. So Hazaras are an Altaic people. This is also proven by DNA tests and their physical features and most importantly their history.